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Vance accuses Israeli influence
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in a podcast interview with Joe Rogan that “there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign.”
Vance argued that a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal” targeted the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to Iran.
The dispute centers on a U.S.-brokered deal to end the war with Iran that Vance defended despite criticism from Israeli officials and some U.S. lawmakers that it leaves Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities largely intact and constrains Israeli actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A White House response came through spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters, “I think the president would certainly agree that yes, foreign countries certainly do try to persuade American public opinion.”
Parscale denies, Massie weighs
Brad Parscale, President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, rejected Vance’s claims and told the Washington Examiner, “Claims that I attacked the [peace deal] or the Administration are false,” he wrote Thursday morning.
Parscale said “Everything I created and did is publicly disclosed through the FARA process,” while Vance’s office declined to comment, according to the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told the Washington Examiner that Vance was “complaining about” similar treatment, saying, “Israel is paying for influencers to go after anybody on policy or public messaging that threatens their welfare.”
Massie added that he thought Vance “might be getting a taste of what I got, which is millions of dollars in an online influence campaign,” while framing the difference as Massie being “genuinely opposed to funding the genocide.”
Deal, diplomacy, and fallout
Vance tied his criticism to the Time magazine reporting that Parscale and Clock Tower X were hired to lead a digital campaign for Israel, and he said he saw “a very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal.”
“United States Vice President JD Vance has accused some members of Israel’s government of trying to influence US public opinion to oppose a deal to end the war with Iran”
The Diplomatic Insight said the deal was “said to cost $1.5 million a month,” and described Clock Tower X’s team delivering “100 original pieces of content per month including 80 percent aimed at Gen Z audiences on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and podcasts.”
Vance also said he was not worried about foreign governments trying to influence U.S. policy, but he was concerned when “those operations, those influence campaigns, actually affect American political judgement,” as quoted by Al-Monitor.
Al Jazeera reported that former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas called Vance’s remarks “unprecedented,” saying no sitting U.S. vice president had “ever accused Israel of openly running a campaign to undermine American policy.”
